By: Parker Haynie- Assistant Director of Communications
CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The SUU Men's Basketball team is coming off a tough loss at Utah Tech and will be playing its second of three-straight road games. The T-Birds are heading to Arlington, Texas, to play the Mavericks of UT Arlington for the second time this year. UTA is currently the top-seeded team in the Western Athletic Conference, boasting a 13-6 overall record and a 5-2 WAC record.
Head Coach Rob Jeter said
"UTA is always a tough matchup. They have good guard play, and know exactly how they want to play you and try and force you to play that way. We will need to be disciplined in what we are trying to accomplish offensively and defensively.
Game Details
Who: Southern Utah (7-14, 3-5 WAC) at UT Arlington (13-6, 5-2 WAC)
When: Thursday, January 29, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: College Park Center in Arlington, Texas
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: HERE
Previous Matchup
- The Mavericks won in Cedar City on January 3 of this year. UTA was propelled to victory behind Marcell McCreary, who scored 39 points on 12-16 from the floor and 8-11 from three. Jaiden Feroah, Isaiah Cottrell, and Elijah Duval all scored 13 points for the T-Birds in the 77-86 defeat.
The Thunderbirds
Southern Utah is 3-1 in its last three games, but has yet to win a true road game in the 2025-26 season. Most recently, the T-Birds are coming off a high-scoring loss to Utah Tech down in St. George.
In the loss to the Trailblazers, both Jaiden Feroah and Elijah Duval had outstanding games. Feroah went for a career-high 35 points on 13-16 from the field. He also pulled down 12 rebounds and secured his third straight double-double. Feroah also earned the WAC Newcomer of the Week honors due to his performances last week. Duval set a new career-high as well, scoring 28 points, dishing out eight assists, and bringing down seven rebounds.
Feroah now leads the team at nearly 14 points per game and is pulling down seven rebounds per contest as well. He currently sits seventh in the T-Birds single-season blocks record with 40 on the year, and he is second in SUU single-season free-throw percentage at 89.5% from the line.
Duval (12.8) and Dylan Jones (10.3) are also averaging double-digits scoring for the Thunderbirds.
Jones was 3-9 from deep against Utah Tech last time out and is now up to 44 made three-pointers.
The Mavericks
UTA is 5-1 in its last six games and is coming off a 71-64 win over the Texans on January 21.Â
The goal will be fairly simple for the Thundebirds: don't Marcell McCreary score 39 points. McCreary was dominant against SUU in the team's first matchup, but has slowed down since then. He only scored five points against Tarleton State last time out and is down to 13.8 points per game.
UTA's defense is where they have had the most success this season. They hold teams to just 65 points per game, which is the best in the WAC. They are the best team in the entire country for opponents' three-point percentage, holding teams to just 25.2% from beyond the arc.
They turnover opponents at a high rate as well, forcing 14.5 per game, but they also capitalize on turnovers by turning them into 14.5 points per game.
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